I have a lot of confidence when I am showing people how to write or pointing out flaws in their work - it comes with being an editor. Problem is, though, that it doesn't apply to my own writing because I've never had anyone critique it. And I'm the harshest critic I know, so I'm not helping my own self-esteem levels much.
i don't... never felt the need to... i've known since my schooldays that i can write better than most, so don't even think about 'confidence'... writing has always been second nature to me, as automatic as breathing... guess i was just born that way...
Just because you write well, doesn't mean people want to pay to read what you've written. I often find myself not-quite literary enough for my academic crowds and goals, and then not-quite not-literary enough for non-literary crowds and goals. Basically, I end up writing literary bizarro, like my mans-wife-is-dying-of-cancer story that was totally literary, but with robots, that nobody seems to like. But shrug, I write what I want, people can sort out what to do with the manuscripts when I'm dead, I suppose.
Perfection is an illusion that can NEVER be attained ('cause it keeps evolving). I'm sure if Da Vinci saw his 'Mona Lisa' today, he'd say: "What! I painted that crap?! ... It was supposed to come out differently." This might sound cliche, but do the best you can at that moment ... breathe out and let it go! If you hate it two minutes later ... oh well! Remember, you'll hate it again ... and again ... and again ... (It just can't be achieved).
Ha ha, I feel like that sometimes. In the end I spam out all the stupid literary fluff that accumulates in my brain from spending too much time around academics at university, and write artsy short stories that no one understands, and that allows me to keep the themes subtle in my crappy fantasy.
Fairly confident. I'm not saying "I'm a good writer" or "I'm the best!" but I'm satisfied with my writing and I think I'm a decent storyteller. If a scene that completely bores me to write can bring out an emotional response it readers then I can't be doing too badly. My strongest points are easily character and dialogue. Although there is this stereotype that all writers can be shy and awkward people I'm a complete social butterfly; I get people and I've been told by my readers that it shows in my writing. However, I've also received a lot of positive response on setting and description too. I won't lie even it makes me sound arrogant: I've an interesting style; my characters are immoral jerks but at the same time people find them likeable; my plots are complex and dark but there's enough wit, fluff and light-heartedness to stop it being too depressing. I'm fairly confident with the individual components but I'm not confident enough to think the writing itself is fabulous or that it's good enough to be seen in full by others. It definitely has a long way to go but as long as I'm on the right track I'm happy with the progress I make with each story. Each and every full-length novel I write is stronger in style and has a tighter story than the previous even if it doesn't have the best plot. But I've decades still to work on my writing, to take it up to a point where I'm happy enough to see more than just short stories immortalised in print, so I'm going to focus more on improving the faults instead of feeling down and whining about how it's not yet good enough.
Everything Yoshiko says describes how I feel. I know my punctuation needs help but is improving and my tendancy towards too much plot needs curbing. However my dialogue is good, my characters are good and my plots are plain bonkers lol I also like reading my own work. My writing is much better than it was a year ago and if it keeps improving at the rate it did this year I know I can be good.
I wish I could go on an ego-trip right now and say I'm confident in my writing, but I won't. At the end of the day, I wouldn't quit my current job to pursue a career in writing. Truth is, I know myself too well. My confidence takes a plunge every once in a while, and it is very hard to pick myself back up and write again. I'm crossing fingers right now that I won't chicken out of the upcoming interview sessions, as I'm working on a creative nonfiction piece, and I need to keep on charging ahead in order not to disappoint the people involved.
Normally after reading published best selling authors my confidence level sinks to the point I want to run a rusty blade across my wrist....In so far as other non published writers, I try to march to the beat of my own drum. Here to date I have avoided comparing my wormy apples to other's rancid oranges
I have an incredibly high level of confidence in most things, but especially my writing. When you have an incredible passion for something, as I have in writing, you have to have a certain level of confidence in it, otherwise you should try something else. It's alright to be critic, I am my greatest critic, but you need to have confidence in what you do or it's just not worth it. If you have no confidence, you become far too dependent upon others. You become a leech and your art begins to relfect others instead of yourself. Be an artist, not a mirror.
If I find a novel I really love I dissect it and work out why I liked it, to see if I can figure out any of the "tricks" the author has employed that has made me like it so much. Especially in the case of novels such as Haruki Murakami's "Kafka on the Shore" and Alexander Chee's "Edinburgh", which harbour many aspects of storytelling I dislike -- the first contains fantasy elements (I have a general dislike of fantasy and sci-fi) and the second contains an endless quantity of purple prose -- yet I still adore them. However, I'm an optimist and thoughts like, "This sucks!" rarely occur to me. My instant thought is how to improve something rather than dwelling on the fact it's flawed.
Man, I'm always such a weirdo. I don't feel bad after reading something great. I feel good. Not only did I just get to ready something great, but I know for a fact there will be tons of things to learn from the text. And, seeing great fiction at works reminds me why I bother toiling and what I'm striving for. What gets me down is all the amazing writers I know not making it, not catching a break, having their work marginalized and pushed aside in favor of stuff that is junk but will sell better. We all look at the success stories of stuff that gets published after 20 rejections, but what about all those lost souls that gave up after 19 rejections, despite their work being incredible? All that are kind of things gets me down (especially as I see myself going in this direction despite my best efforts).
Intended comedy y'all. I come from the ranks of readers inspired to the point of emulation, please pardon my humor ! The key to my answer was the second thought In so far as other non published writers, I try to march to the beat of my own drum. Here to date I have avoided comparing my wormy apples to other's rancid oranges
Can't you describe how you go about and how you think when you dissect the novel for those of us (me) that doesn't know what precisely that means? Please?
These days, I'm very aware of my capabilities, and supremely confident that I can complete the tasks I take on. Whether I want to complete them is another matter. I wasn't always like this, however. When I was a few years younger (let's say 5-7 years ago), I was facing a whole succession of crises of confidence. Wasn't sure what the future would bring, hadn't achieved anything yet. But I kept going (at everything), and even while I was blundering about I learnt valuable lessons. Eventually, things turned out alright in almost every area, or at least in enough of them to make the others matter less. Perhaps you are also not really a low-self-esteem person, but rather a perfectionist? I know I am moderately perfectionistic. If it gets too strong it can seriously interfere with your life and become a liability, but a moderate dose is a very helpful asset.
I don't find I need confidence to actually write. Confidence is needed to read what you have written to an audience - by being a member of a wring group I gained confidence by reading out my work regularly to the group and being able to accept their criticism. So yes in that aspect I am confident.
I'm pretty confident in writing dialogue and character actions. But I'm dreadful at describing the enviroments around them and such. Something I'm working on.
Wow, I've never thought of doing this before. Guess it's because I try to shut down that analytical part of the brain when I'm reading. Here's to hoping I can just suck the influence in by osmosis.
i talked to a writing pro a while ago and he said the best way to learn to write is to find a novel that you love and take a highlighter pen to it. if they say something interesting (by they i mean the writer not the characters) highlight it, then ask why its interesting, i went through lord of the rings doing this and it was a great help. i should forewarn you though you will never read that book in the same way again
When I write, if I see a really good movie, read a really good book, or play an amazing game, I tend to lose confidence in my ideas. I think it's because I don't believe I can compete with whatever great thing I just witnessed. Does anyone else have this issue? For example, Mass Effect 2. After I played that game, I couldn't write anything for a month. Even after that, I kept thinking about my favorite characters and at some points I thought it was utterly futile to try to compete with Bioware and their great characters. Same with Dragon Age II. The movie "The Prestige" had much the same effect.
Yeah, I feel that way every time I read a book by Amy Tan, actually. She just has an artistry about everything she does that I can't match. Her book Saving Fish from Drowning made me feel so incompetent! But the cure for any feeling like this is to watch something dreadfully mediocre, or--far more fun--something TERRIBLE. There's this "great" movie called The Room that's a couple of years old. It's just the worst thing on the planet. The dialog and the story are bad, and if possible, the acting is worse. It's hysterically funny (unintentionally) and you'll feel SO much better about your writing ability after you see it. That is, of course, unless you think the following are actually good lines of dialog, like something a person would actually say: "That b--- is always telling me what to do. I don't want to do what she wants me to do, I want to do what I want to do. So what do you think I should do?" "You can drop off the face of the earth for all I care! And that's a promise!" There are about a million more in this movie. See? You're a great writer.
When I first started thinking about my current novel's idea, I kept comparing it to Harry Potter and LOTR. That was the worst thing I could have ever done. So I learned that instead of comparing them to my work and feeling all sad and lazy about it, I'd rather motivate myself. If they could do it, I can do it. The only thing it takes is time and effort, willing to spare these two? Feel free to feel good about yourself. Believe me what you consider great might not always be as great as you think it is and we, as humans, tend to be too critical about our work. So next time you see something great that impresses you just think that you need to work harder to create something that's great in its own unique way.
Mass effect does have a great story, it's one worth an expensive movie or three. All doubts and confidence killers I see creeping toward my consciousness I disregard or force down or banish them to the deepest corners of my brain. Luckily I don't have to do that much. Mostly it's the opposite with me - if I see something great it makes want to go on even more. Because every time I see something great and better it reminds me of what I myself am capable of, the only obstacle between my current state and that goal are long and, probably, tiresome years of learning. Every time I see something 'miraculous' or 'extraordinary', mostly in movies and games, I start thinking of possibilities of how it could be so. Taking in account the 'rules' of the world it happened or occurred in, in case there is any significant difference from ours. I find it hard to lose confidence, especially considering the kind of ideas and thoughts I already have for creating stories. They are rather small and young at the moment but they will grow massive and at least great, I simply won't accept less. Also, games are made by a large number of people, while other creators of stories work mostly alone.
